Aftereffects: Cowardice
by RosalindHawkins
Summary: SPOILERS for Jaehee's route, Day 10: Jaehee arrives at Jumin's apartment to check that the car accident left him unharmed, but when she becomes upset, Jumin has to fight his... urges. {Contains: unresolved emotional tension, crying, daddy issues, one-sided affection, Jaehee Kang x Jumin Han.} One-shot.


**A/N: Contains SPOILERS for Day 10 of Jaehee's route.**

* * *

 _Jaehee Kang has entered the chatroom._

 **Jaehee Kang** : Mr. Han?!

 **Jaehee Kang** : What were you thinking? You could have been seriously injured!

 **Jaehee Kang** : God...

 **Jaehee Kang** : it's a huge relief that only the car was damaged.

 **Jaehee Kang** : First, you should go to the hospital and see a doctor.

 **Jaehee Kang** : No.. I will go to your house directly.

 **Jaehee Kang** : You might suffer from aftereffects following the car accident, which is even more scary.

 **Jaehee Kang** : Regardless of my employment status, I will take you to the hospital even if it's against your will.

 **Jaehee Kang** : Of course, I'll drive.

 **Jaehee Kang** : Or at least...

 **Jaehee Kang** : I should check with my own eyes that he's fine.

 **Jaehee Kang** : It is my duty to know whether he's able to attend the party

 **Jaehee Kang** : since including MC, we all worked hard for it.

 **Jaehee Kang** : It's the day before the party...

 **Jaehee Kang** : **There can't be anymore accidents.**

 **Jaehee Kang** : I'm on my way there right now.

 _Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom._

 **Unknown** : You- -fail- use-_

 **Unknown** : _?Huh

 **Unknown** : T-ime-?Not-much-left_?

* * *

 _Ding-dong! Ding-dong!_

Jumin carefully lifted Elizabeth from his lap and set her onto the couch cushion beside him before answering the door. One peek through the peephole confirmed his suspicions.

"Mr. Han, are you alright?" she burst out as soon as he opened the door, letting her in. She continued speaking at a rapid pace as he closed the door behind her. "Are you _truly_ well? Because if you're not, then I'm taking you to the hospital this instant whether you like it or not!" As Jumin turned his back to the door, Jaehee stepped closer, peering into his face with avid concern.

"I told you before, I'm perfectly fine. See?" He spread his arms, letting her take in the sight of his young, healthy body, still clad in his work suit with only his tie loosened and the top two buttons undone.

"I think I should take you anyway. They should check you for a concussion. I'll get your coat!" she added before he could protest, dashing away to the coat closet—she knew his apartment almost as well as he did, she'd been here so many times—and fetching it off the hanger for him.

"Ms. Kang, I am _not_ going to the hospital with you." He calmly followed her to the coat closet, plucking the coat from her hands and setting it back on the hanger before closing the door once more. He turned to face her, still moving with serene certainty as he said, "I do not have a concussion and I do not need a doctor. I'm not hurt, see? You can go home now."

Jaehee blinked once and burst into tears. As she began to sob, hiding her face in her hands, Jumin stiffened, eyes wide in shock. Crap. What had just happened? Both confused and remorseful he awkwardly pat her on the head, barely making any contact.

"You don't need to cry, Ms. Kang, because I'm alright. Everyone's alright. Nobody got hurt." What else could he say? What reason was there for her tears? He'd never seen her cry before, and he'd never been close enough to a woman before to _care_ if she cried—not since his biological mother, that was, and she'd been fine ditching him with his father, who'd only wanted him because he needed an heir.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Han," Jaehee choked out, wiping at her eyes and cheeks, but she was still crying, so it was no use. "I just..."

"It's quite alright." Jumin did his best to cover his awkward reaction, opting to lightly set his hands on her shoulders from behind and guide her to the empty chair opposite the couch. It only took a light amount of pressure for her to take a hint and sit down. "Wait right here." He took the tissue box from the bathroom and brought it back to her, though Jaehee didn't seem closer to ceasing than she'd been before.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Han," she sobbed again, hiding her face in her hands, averting her eyes. "I was just so worried about you... I don't know what's come over me."

"You're... probably just a bit tired," he replied, though he sounded uncertain. She tore more tissues from the box and blew her nose, dabbing at her eyes and cheeks again. She wasn't wearing her glasses, and he was still adjusting to seeing her face this way. She was too pretty without them. That was why he'd wanted her to wear them in the first place: for her own protection.

Besides that, Jumin was determined to be nothing like his father.

"Are you really, truly certain that you're unharmed?" Jaehee looked up at him with red eyes, earning a slight smile from her former employer.

"I think we should both be more concerned about _you_ right now."

His smooth, kind baritone brought a slight blush to her salty cheeks, and Jumin kneeling beside her chair in that moment didn't make it go away.

"I'm sorry to have upset you."

"You _should_ be!" she exclaimed, flustered, sounding irked again. "Your recklessness could have cost you your life, and then where would we be!"

Jumin was pleased that she hadn't lost that spark. It wasn't a spark of rebellion in her that he'd favored and nurtured; it was a spark of motivation and determination. Jaehee had never once failed him in the almost three years she'd worked for him. She could do literally _anything_ she set her mind to do, and he'd gradually pushed her to her limits over time. True, he'd finally pushed her too far, but would she even know what-all she was capable of if he _hadn't_ pushed her?

"Ms. Kang."

"It's hard enough on me whenever Zen takes his motorcycle out for a drive, or when smokes too much or stocks up his fridge with nothing but beer,"—she was edging into the territory of hysteria now—"but _honestly_ , Mr. Han, I didn't think that I had to look after you too!"

"Ms. Kang."

"You're an adult for crying out loud, not a teenager, so you have no excuse for doing something so unbelievably _stupid_!"

"Ms. Kang."

"Yes, Mr. Han?" She blinked down at him, now truly embarrassed.

"You can call me Jumin." He smiled, and Jaehee finally understood why so many women swooned over him. "We're equals now, as members of the RFA."

"Jumin." She didn't say his first name very often, and never to his face, so it felt strange to be looking into the silvers eyes while she said it.

"That's right, Jaehee." The smile again, and he adds, "Do you feel better now?"

"A-A bit," she stammered uncharacteristically.

She'd stopped crying, but her delicate face was stained with tears. Almost without thinking, Jumin reached out and gently took her chin between forefinger and thumb, tilting her face slightly as he examined her more closely. She blushed more darkly, but if he noticed, he didn't show it.

"M-Mr. Han—"

"Jumin."

"Ah, Jumin..." She'd been speaking up to protest at his invasion of her personal space, but her voice failed her as those metallic silver eyes came closer, filling her vision. Then they took a turn, and his lips pressed to her cheek for a fraction of a second.

"I'm touched by your concern. I'm glad to know that you care so much." He pulled back and stood, Jaehee's skin still tingling from the heat of his breath. "I'll give you a minute to collect yourself." Calm and cool as ever, he walked away to his room, sealing the door behind him as Jaehee puzzled over the meaning of the kiss.

Meanwhile, Jumin was trying to get a grip.

He was _not_ his father.

He refused to go around dating his employees—or even former employees. He had more self-control and more self-respect than to do that. Besides that, he respected Jaehee too much to use her that way.

What he didn't realize was that it wasn't _using_ her if he had true feelings for her—which he did. Watching his father's years of lasciviousness, watching women coming and going into Mr. Chairman's life on a weekly basis, had given him a strongly negative impression of relationships in general. He didn't know what a healthy one looked like, and he certainly didn't know how to conduct one.

So when he found himself overwhelmed with the urge to kiss Jaehee in order to make her stop crying, his only recourse had been to redirect it into a friendly kiss. It wouldn't have been fair to Jaehee, after all, who surely loved Zen romantically whether she knew it or not. Maybe Jaehee's affections for the nearly-albino musical actor had embittered Jumin towards him, but he also hated cats, which was justification enough for antagonizing him.

It wasn't cowardly of him to remain in his room while he bid he adieu in the RFA chatroom. It wasn't immature of him, like a little boy with his first crush. It wasn't strange of him, either, to avoid such a personal relationship.

He didn't want to be responsible for the consequences—good, bad, or neutral—and how they impacted another person's life, his actions' causing a domino effect of results that he couldn't even predict. His father had shown him how out of control that could become, and he wanted to wash his hands of that lifestyle.

So, when Jaehee said good bye to Elizabeth the Third and left his apartment, he was in the throes of frustrated attraction.

He believed he'd done the right thing, but he still wished he could have kissed her.


End file.
